Mikan Sakura
"Cheerful and Energetic. Forgets her worries quickly and dependent on others. That's the image I had in mind when I created her."''Higuchi, Tachibana (2008-03-11). "Chapter 7". Gakuen Alice, Volume 2. Tokyopop. ISBN 978-1-4278-0320-7. - Tachibana Higuchi Mikan Sakura (''Sakura Mikan 佐倉 蜜柑?) is the main character of Gakuen Alice. After following her best friend, Hotaru Imai, to Alice Academy, she discovered she has a very special alice and began her adventures as a student at the school. She is noted for being a cute and super vigorous child.http://www.sonymusic.co.jp/Animation/alice/ Mikan is voiced by Kana Ueda in a strong Kansai dialect. Appearance Mikan is a ten-year old girl in her debut. She is petite and average in height with big brown eyes (sometimes depicted as amber or olive green) and a heart-shaped face with a small nose. Her brown hair has natural curly tips that reach past her shoulders, but she usually ties it up in two pigtails. She sometimes styles her hair in a different way during special occasions. Mikan looks very much like her mother, sharing the same hair and eye colors, and face shape. She also looks like a younger version a Yuka when she lets her hair down. Furthermore, where Mikan's fringe splits it looks like her father's haircut, as Yuka's bangs do not split in the middle. She is usually seen wearing the standard elementary school uniform for females, which consists of a black cardigan over a white collared shirt, a plaid red mini-skirt, and black knee-length boots. In the manga, she is also seen wearing the summer uniform. Character Cute and optimistic, Mikan may look like an ordinary girl, but she is a gifted Alice. In terms of personality, Mikan is good-natured and caring towards her friends. Her clumsiness may lead her to trouble most of the time, but she has a very determined spirit. Her motto's, "Never Lose!" and "Never Give up!" have carried her through countless trials in her life in the academy. Despite being a klutz, Mikan is quite athletic and an excellent runner. In fact, her best best subject is PE, along with Home Economics. She houses a number of talents, which includes singing, dancing and playing the recorder. While she is average in academics, Mikan is considered to be a walking barrier in the school because of her Alice. Mikan is a capable cook, as such she was shown teaching Sumire Shoda how to cook in the Anime. Her favorite treat is Fluff Puffs (Howalon ''in Japanese). Mikan is highly upbeat, much like her father, and several times in the series she is shown to cheer up her friends. She exhibits strong attachments to her friends and loved ones. She has a fear of the dark and ghosts, and can easily freak out. When it comes to romance and love, she is very clueless. She is even oblivious to the romantic feelings that Natsume and Ruka have for her. Apart from that, her innocent and cheerful personality allows her to befriend others easily, whether they are rivals or strangers. Her charms have even managed to turn a lot of students into friends and admirers. An endearing young girl with an innocent heart, Mikan is an incredibly brave and compassionate person. She is shown to be very caring and somewhat stubborn, but she mostly appears happy. She is the type of person who easily forgets her worries and problems. She always tries to make the best out of a bad situation. Often she can be clever and mature when needed. In contrast to her naivety, she can exhibit clever thinking and perceptiveness during critical situations. But she can be somewhat absentminded at times. A lot of people were doubtful of her at first, however, with her cheerfulness and charms, Mikan eventually gains a lot of friends and admirers in the academy. Mikan is also famous in the academy for being Natsume's partner and for her rare Nullification Alice. Background Prior to the start of the story, Hotaru transferred to her school from the city and had a hard time fitting in with the others due to her indifference. At first, Mikan didn't really cared to be friends with Hotaru, but when they entered a dance and singing competition together - after Hotaru having said that "two cute girls like them should stick together" - and won it, she decided to be Hotaru's best friend. Because of their win, the two of them instantly became famous in their neighborhood. From then on, Mikan began to care deeply for Hotaru, and they became as close as sisters, even though their personalities were and are the exact opposites. They constantly fought and argued; Mikan had the tendency to get upset whenever Hotaru would be cold towards her, but even so, they really cared for each other. When Mikan heard that her school was going to be demolished, she led a protest to stop such an act, since it contained so many memories. However, no one joined her. (''This section is elaborated in the anime more than in the manga.) One day, she was shocked to hear that Hotaru was moving back to the city to go to an academy for young "geniuses" like her when she received a note from Hotaru through her 'turtle mail'. She was horrified when she learned that the academy was an all-in-one escalator school where the students would not be allowed to see their parents until they graduated. When she heard rumors that students were treated like slaves in Alice Academy (which she felt was a possibility, since the government gave money to the parents for sending their children to the school), Mikan left her grandfather and her home to go after Hotaru by herself. Story Welcome To Gakuen Alice Mikan Sakura used to live with her grandfather in the country. She was shocked to hear that her friend Hotaru Imai was moving back to the city to go to an academy for young "geniuses" like her. She was horrified when she learned that the academy was an all-in-one escalator school where the students were not allowed to see their parents until they graduated. When she heard rumors that students were like slaves in Alice Academy, which she felt was a possibility since they gave money to parents for sending their children to the school, she left her grandfather and her home to go after Hotaru by herself. She then encountered Narumi who saved her from kidnappers who wanted to enroll her into a fake school. Narumi felt she also may have an alice and decided she could attend Alice Academy with Hotaru and many other children with extraordinary powers. As they were talking Natsume Hyūga, a boy with the fire alice blasted the wall of the school. Narumi was able to apprehend Natsume with a beanwhip and using his pheromone alice to cause Natsume to faint, thus shocking Mikan into thinking that Narumi hurts Hotaru and other students. Mikan waited inside a office waiting for Narumi with an unconscious Natsume. Narumi had to leave to inform the principal of her arrival. Suddenly a teacher, Misaki bursts through the door yelling that Narumi stole his bean whips. Seeing Mikan having questions, he explains to her about alices and the school. He tells her about Narumi not being a bad person. Misaki also informs Mikan about Natsume's black cat mask that Mikan is holding and tells her the phrase, "To Avoid Black Cats". He then has to leave for an emergency, but informs her to push that button if Natsume were to wake up. Mikan pinches Natsume's nose to see he is awake. When she thought she seems safe, Natsume grabs on to her pigtail, and pushes on the couch below him. He demands her identity callously, threatening to use his alice on her. Ruka Nogi then crashes from a window and Narumi and Misaki arrive. Mikan then rushes to them scared. Natsume and Ruka then leave out the window, with Natsume showing off Mikan's underwear (skirt in the anime), calling her "Polka Dots". Mikan is very upset at this. Narumi cheers her up by having her try on her new uniform. Narumi tells Mikan that she has one week to have her classmates accept her. The class representives appear and she sees Hotaru and linchou . Reunited with Hotaru she cries and the two friends share a hug. Northen Woods Arc She is initially accepted with skepticism by her classmates. This is emphasized even more by the fact that she does not initially know what her Alice is. Mikan sees Natsume and Ruka, which brings back the memory that Natsume stole her underwear. A challenge is "offered" by Natsume Hyūga , that if she went on a trip to the Northern woods and if she survived all of the horrors inside, the class would accept her and she would be officially entered into the academy. Mikan managed to complete it after help from Hotaru and Iinchou. Upon ariving the Northen Woods they meet Mr. Bear. At first Mikan finds the bear cute, but he punches and kicks Mikan. This goes on until Hotaru spills water onto Bear and the group moves forward. The next obstacle is Piyo who attacks them, because it is hungry and it smelled their food. They create a trap to capture, Ruka, since he has the animal pheromone alice, that can stop Piyo. Ruka is reluctant at first, until Mikan says that they don't wish to harm Piyo. Natsume then finds out about them capturing Ruka. Furious that they captured his friend and broke the rules, he attacks them with his alice. Mikan, wanting to protect her friends, uses her Nullification Alice, which nullifies all other Alices, to stop Natsume's flames. Narumi arrives to gain control of situation and they return to the academy. Majority of her classmates were amazed of her success, but some were still hesitant to accept her. Thrown together with several confident classmates who have already been in the system for a while, she asks what the audience would—"How are people with Alices different? We are all human, aren't we?" Reo Arc Mikan is excited about Reo visiting the academy, even though she was unaware of him being famous. When she and Hotaru witness Reo and his men kidnapping Natsume, Mikan and Sumire decide to rescue him. They manage to successfully escape the academy, without being caught by Makihara. Now outside of the school they are able to track down Natsume using Sumire's Cat-Dog Alice. She and Sumire then fight about who should go back to warn the teachers and end up getting captured by Reo's men. Mikan, along with Sumire, are tied next to Natsume, as they regained consciousness. She was originally a "No Star" (the lowest rank in the Academy's star-ranking system), but moved on to being a "One Star" after her combined effort with Sumire and rescuing (more or less) Natsume from Reo. Zero Invasion Arc After the final exams, there were strange occurring people were losing there alices and at the same time Inchou had won the special student award which allowed him to leave and travel outside for a week. At that time he lost his alice to Yuka Azumi and when he got back to the academy he realize it. At the same time the Z people invaded the academy, Hotaru and Mikan went to see the people who took Inchou’s alice. Then one for the people from the Z’s shot a poison bullet that would have hit Mikan but Hotaru pushed her and was hit instead, putting herself in danger. Mikan, Natsume, Tsubasa, Ruka, and penguin got and try to find an antidote and Inchou’s alice using a teleportation key hole while sneaking into the high school division and the going into Z’s hideout. There Mikan met her mother Yuka Azumi for the first time although she didn’t know her as her mother only as a Z her mother knew who she was and seeing her upset and angry gave her the antidote and let everyone escape. While escaping the ground was collapsing so Mikan lost the antidote and penguin got it back to help Hotaru but at the cost of his life but he understood what would happen and was happy. Christmas Ball Arc During the preparation for the Christmas Ball, Mikan meets and befriends the shy and withdrawn Nobara Ibaragi. Nobara finds Mikan cute and easy to be with because of her cheerfulness and becomes attached to her. Mikan gets Nobara to help her with some cakes using the combined powers of their alices. At the Christmas ball Natsume dances with Mikan, because Ruka suggests it. The dance is awkward between the two and Natsume comments how Mikan seemed happy while dancing Ruka at the alice festival. The two insult each other making the mood around them brighter, until a couple dancing bumps into them and they accidentally "kiss"; It was a tooth kiss according to Mikan, since only her tooth hit his mouth. After this Natsume spends his time in a tree inside the ball. Mikan later comes up that same tree and talks to Natsume about the kiss and what happened between her and Ruka. Natsume then kisses her when she says that the kiss was not a kiss, leaving the young girl baffled. Hanahime Arc Because of the Middle School Principal's interest in her, Mikan wins the chance to attend the Hana Hime Festival. When they arrive, Mikan spots Nobara and calls out to her. Nobara is completely thrilled to see Mikan, but her expression quickly changes when she saw Natsume. Natsume then pulls Mikan away when Nobara was trying to tell her that Natsume has to leave. Upon meeting the enigmatic middle school principal, she becomes excited, while the principal looks at her with keen interest. Because of some jealous Hana Hime girls, Mikan and Youichi gets locked away in a room. After being locked for a while, Youichi, who accidentally ate the Gulliver Candy, which has the ability to age the one who eats it, suddenly grows into a thirteen-year old boy. With his new strength, they managed to break out of the room. Later they are found by Hotaru, Ruka, and some of the members of the Hana Hime, including Shizune Yamanouchi. Shizune and another Hana Hime girl are seen torturing the two jealous girls from earlier, as they threaten them to be kicked out. Mikan feels sorry for them and forgives them despite their wrongdoings. Relieved and totally grateful, they shower Mikan with compliments and thanks, and starts calling her 'Mikan no Kimi'. When Mikan and the others find out that Natsume is gone, they go looking for him but they run into Hayate. As Rui appears, Hotaru hits him with her Baka Gun when Rui tries to attack the group. Ruka, Mikan, and Hotaru then leave while Tsubasa and Youichi fight to find Natsume. After hearing Ruka and Natsume's past story, the three split up. When Mikan goes her way she find someone locked up. She finds out the girl is blind and might be Natsume's sister Aoi. Hotaru calls Mikan via Communication Ear Mufflers to inform her they had found Natsume. She is behind Natsume with Ruka telling Mikan to come behind Natsume, because his Alice would protect them from Nobara's Ice Alice. Mikan, like Hotaru and Ruka, gets her neck stung by a bug controlled by Yakumo. After Persona inflicts his Alice on Mikan, Hotaru attempts to use her Baka Gun on him, but Mikan pushes him away, seeing that he could inflict Hotaru, too. Someone had relesed Aoi and se to were Perona was. Aoi tried to convine Persona to leave them alone.With this he got mad and atemtted to use his alice her but got stoped by Mikan who jumed on him taking anoter hit and knocking his mask off and breaking his earing witch protected him from his own alice (damaging his body). It is found out that Mikan also possesses another rare alice: the stealing alice, and the partnered insertion alice which she inherited from her mother. She first discovered her stealing alice during the Hanahime arc, when she was affected by Persona's alice. When her condition took a turn for the worst, she subconsciously used the stealing alice to draw Persona's alice out of her body and heal her self. Sports Arc Mikan is kept under keen observation by the Academy, because of her two rare Alices and the fact that she is the daughter of Yuka Azumi, who is a member of the "Z" Organization. The Elementary Section Principal (shortened to ESP by fans) is interested in her and her Alices, and even sent Luna Koizumi to watch over Mikan. Despite Luna's threats, Mikan still retains her cheerfulness and closeness to others, except, unfortunately, with Natsume. She is given the title Goddess of Victory by the other students, because she is the main reason why her team won in the sports festival. And after all the bad rumors, which was started by Luna, had cleared up, many students become a lot closer to her. However, they started treating Natsume indifferently. Even the ones who used to follow Natsume now admire and listen to Mikan. Before Escape Arc Later on, Mikan can utilize her Stealing Alice much efficiently. She knows about her Alice and uses it to heal Narumi-sensei, and she agrees to keep it a secret. Under the order of the Elementary Principal, students begin to force her to steal their alices (chasing her around) as a rumor spreads that whoever forces her to show her Alice can move up one star rank. Mikan does not know Natsume knows about her Alice. Also, she becomes very close with Bear, since while being chased by the middle school students, Bear wanted her to steal his soul and return it to Kaname, thinking it would heal him. But when he gets injured, Mikan felt so sorry and she fixed him, and if she hadn't cared so much, he wouldn't have been able to move as he did now. So they became much closer, where Bear settles down on Mikan, even when Tsubasa isn't around. Escape Arc Because of her Stealing-Alice, Mikan is transferred to the Dangerous Ability Class. The Elementary Division Principal explains to her that having the Stealing Alice, they made a mistake in which class she was placed. Inside the principal's room she brawls with Luna, resulting in Luna's Alice being stolen. Mikan is called by the Elementary Principal as his precious 'favorite' Natsume then comes confesses to Mikan in front of everyone in the DA class and they runaway while Norbara covers for them. Eventually she learns that she is actually related to the High School Principal, which turns out to be her uncle and the older brother of her real father. In order to get away from the Elementary Principal, Narumi tells her that they are going to escape in the academy because it will be dangerous for her to stay there (because of her stealing alice), but she is reluctant to leave her best friend Hotaru, her other friends and Natsume. When Mikan is transported to the high school principal's office, the principal introduces himself as her uncle and the older brother of her father, Izumi Yukihira, and informs her about her mother. Of course, Mikan is surprised to learn about her relationship with the principal, as well as some facts about her parents. With the help of Noda's time travel alice Mikan, Hotaru, Natsume, and Ruka venture into the past to learn more about Mikan's mother. Flashback Arc Mikan goes through the time window to try to stop her father from meeting his end. However, she is pulled back by Tsubasa before she could have the chance to warn him. Before leaving she yells "Daddy" to her father. Mikan, who is emotionally saddened by the sacrifices Yuka, decides to go with her mother and calls Yuka her "Mother" for the first time. Then she remembers the time she told Natsume not to leave her and ironically she will be the one leaving him. Hotaru and Mikan share a hug, promising that their friendship will last and that they will meet again. The time to go back to the present is soon, though Mikan tells Noda she would want to see more of the past. After this Tono and her hug and he along with everyone else gives her one of their alice stones. Seeing that Natsume hasn't given her his alice stone she looks in his direction and he points at her necklace, which holds the red stone she found in her bedroom on her birthday and remembers the legend of exchanging alice stones. Current Arc Mikan and the group return to the present where she is shocked to find the HSP's office in a mess. Hayami gives Mikan information that the ESP is looking for her and Yuka. This sudden news causes Mikan to worry that her mother has been captured. Natsume then convinces Mikan of the conclusion that she made from time traveling, that she would leave with Yuka, and that he will protect her. With this the unanimously agrees to cause trouble. Mikan and everyone are running away and run into a Fuukitai member who turns out to be Goshima who tells more about the current situation. That Yuka is waiting for her at the warp hole to escape. Suddenly a letter from Yuka and a bag of alice stones appear. Yuka is wondering if Mikan also has the Insertion Alice, which what the alice stones are for. Tono shoves his Amplification alice stone in Mikan's throat to awaken her Insertion Alice, much to everyone's shock. Mikan then has a aurora surrounding her and Hotaru tests Mikan to see if it did awaken with another of Tono's alice stones, which disappears on contact. Knowing that Mikan has this alice she starts putting compatible alice stones into everyone. Praying for help from her mother, father, and everyone Mikan manages to put one alice stone into everyone. This however exhausts her. The alice stone in her body is learned to be Sakurano's Instant teleportation alice stone; the same alice as Yuka. When the pursuers suddenly arrive Natsume protects Mikan with his flames and yells at her to use the teleportation alice to run away. She doesn't do this and teleports everyone away from the fukitaki. Yuka is then seen commenting on how she hears a voice; Mikan's voice calling after her and that it might be from a telepathy alice. Unfortunanly they are teleported into a mob of students who are after them. After Natsume uses his wish alice on them. She is told by him to use her teleportaion alice again. Alice Mikan's first Alice is the Nullification Alice, which she inherited from her father. With this Alice, Mikan is able to disrupt any kind of Alice. Mikan can completely negate - for an undetermined amount of time - the powers of any Alice in close proximity to her. Her nullifying ability, at first, was involuntary and only comes out in extreme danger, but now her Alice appears to be under control. Mikan also possesses another Alice called the Stealing Alice. This Alice was inherited from her mother. Like the Nullification Alice, the Stealing-Alice is a defensive type, but it can be also be used offensively. With such Alice in hand, Mikan has the ability to steal the Alices of individuals through physical contact. When used strongly, her Stealing-Alice may leave the victim temporarily weakened. After the stealing process, Mikan can turn the stolen Alices into Alice Stones. She also has the ability to insert the stolen Alices in other compatible individuals. She seems to have the ability of precognition or premonition, to see future probabilities through dreams. This becomes more apparent when she dreams about Hotaru being called to the principal's office and it happens. Both the Nullification Alice and Stealing-Alice are considered to be rare and unique. Mikan is highly compatible with different kinds of Alice. This stems from the fact that she is related to people with very special Alices. Izumi Yukihira, her late father, had the Nullification Alice, and her mother, Yuka Azumi, has two Alices: the Stealing-Alice and Instant Teleportation. Her uncle, the high school principal of the academy, is regarded as a "god" due to his Alice of Longevity and Alice Detection. Her parents, her uncle, and herself all possess very rare Alices, making them special to the academy. Apart from her natural-born Alices, Mikan is seen to be skilled in using different powers available to her. Given by Sakurano, the Instant Teleportation Alice, which proves to be highly compatible with her due to the fact her mother also possesses this Alice, is under her full control. She is able to activate and use teleportation in succession easily. In addition to that, she is compatible with Tono's Amplification Alice as well and is able to draw out its full power. Mikan later gains the Amplification Alice ability, which awakens her Insertion Alice. Mikan also gains the Telepathy Alice, another Alice she gained from Sakurano. With telepathy she is able to transfer or sent out her thoughts and emotional sensations to others, whether she does it voluntarily or not. As seen with Sakurano, Mikan is presumably capable to psionically sense or track other living beings several miles away. Relationships Hotaru Imai Main article: ''[[Hotaru Imai|''Hotaru Imai]] Mikan and Hotaru are best friends, although Hotaru rarely shows it. In the fourth grade, Hotaru transferred to Mikan's small-town school from the city and had a hard time fitting in with the others due to being a genius. At first, Mikan chose to ignore her. However, everything changed when Hotaru confronted Mikan about joining a dance and singing competition. The two won the competition together and became famous in their neighborhood. From then on, Mikan began caring deeply about Hotaru and the two became as close as sisters, even though their personalities are the exact opposite. It was when Hotaru suddenly transferred to Alice Academy that Mikan ran away after her, ultimately becoming a part of the school herself. The two get into fights sometimes (mainly due to Mikan complaining about Hotaru's indifference) and Hotaru does not think twice in hitting Mikan with one of her inventions. Despite being cold and rational, she cares for Mikan deeply and likes seeing her smile. She is aware of Natsume and Ruka's feelings for Mikan, but keeps quiet about it. She also knows who Mikan is falling for. Hotaru can be very protective of Mikan and she just enjoys teasing, or more accurately, torturing Mikan's many admirers. Natsume Hyūga Main article: ''[[Natsume Hyūga|''Natsume Hyūga]] Natsume and Mikan are sworn enemies, mainly due to Natsume's constant abuse, cold attitude and teasing towards the heroine. However, as the series progresses, the two begin developing feelings towards one another. Mikan first encountered Natsume on her first day in the Academy, when he attempted to escape but was stopped by Narumi. Later that day, as she was waiting alone in one of the Academy's rooms with a sleeping Natsume, he suddenly woke up and pinned her down on the couch, asking for her identity and threatening her with his Fire Alice. Mikan panicked and refused to tell him who she was, and Natsume unbuttoned her skirt in an attempt to embarrass her (in the manga, he manages to steal her underwear). When Narumi reentered the room, Natsume promptly escaped on one of Ruka's bird friends. This first meeting planted a seed of hate in Mikan for Natsume, which she would carry with her for a very long time. Mikan continued to despise Natsume for a large part of the series, but she later grows to care about him, constantly worrying about his well being. One of her first signs of protection was when she risked her life to save Natsume from the Anti-Alice Organization with the combined effort of Sumire. As Mikan's feelings develop, Natsume's do, as well. He was often cold and unfeeling towards others at the beginning of the series, except to his best friend Ruka, but is eventually drawn to Mikan because of her cheerful and kind personality. It eventually becomes apparent that Natsume's feelings for Mikan are love, something which he hides and fights for against Ruka, who is also in love with her. Mikan remains as the only girl Natsume calls by her real name, and the two have so far kissed twice (both at the Christmas party). He also hugged her when she cried for her father's death. Another hint towards their relationship being one of love, at least on Natsume's part, is during the first radio drama, where Natsume burned away Tsubasa when Mikan was too close to him, ordered Mikan to "only let her hair down in front of him" and said that he didn't mind the fact that she was on top of him, when she was trying to keep him away from Tsubasa. Her attitude towards Natsume varies throughout the series. At times, she is seen bickering with him, and at other times, she worries about him. Most of their scenes together involve insulting each other early in the series. Despite these quarrels, the two share a deep bond. Ruka Nogi Main article: ''[[Ruka Nogi|''Ruka Nogi]] Ruka is one of Mikan's many admirers and good friends, despite also being the best friend of Natsume. Mikan and Ruka's first encounter was when she was being pinned down by Natsume on the couch. Although he is quite shy and quiet towards Mikan, fearing that Natsume will grow angry if they become friends, he eventually softens up to her and develops a crush. When he becomes convinced that Mikan likes Natsume, he grows jealous and determined to win her instead - in a friendly way. Throughout the series, Ruka becomes more committed to liking Mikan, but she remains oblivious of his feelings. He has kissed her, but more modestly on the cheek. Ruka's feelings toward Mikan become obvious quite early in the series. He becomes speechless whenever seeing Mikan in pretty/revealing clothing (such as at the Alice Festival) and makes an effort to understand and communicate with her, even when it may oppose Natsume. His feelings are so obvious that several students form a "Watching Over Ruka Club", meant to spy on the boy and his attempts at winning Mikan's heart. Mikan often calls Ruka "Ruka-pyon", the nickname she gave him. "Pyon" literally means "hop" in Japanese, and is a very cutesy way for a girl to refer to her friends. (Ruka also carries a rabbit around with him most of the time, corresponding to the nickname further.) Narumi L. Anjo Main article: ''[[Narumi L. Anjo|''Narumi L. Anjo]] Narumi is the homeroom teacher of Mikan's class, as well as the first one to discover Mikan's Nullification Alice upon her arrival at the Academy. As his pheromone abilities had no affect on the child, he suspected an Alice at work, and allowed Mikan to enter the school. From then on, the two develop a close Father-Daughter relationship, in which Narumi goes at great lengths to protect and nurture Mikan. Mikan begins calling Narumi "father" due to missing her grandfather. (She originally asked if she could call him "grandpa", but he asked to be called "father" instead as he is too young to be a grandfather.) Later in the manga, it is found that Narumi harbored unrequited feelings for Mikan's mother. It is proven that he is not Mikan's biological father, rather that he made a promise to Mikan's mother to look after Mikan during her stay in the Academy, which explains his protective and father-like attitude. Others She also has innocent crushes on Tsubasa Ando and Kaname Sonō, who are in the upper years. She first met Tsubasa when he saved her from some middle school bullies. It is revealed that Tsubasa is actually her very first senpai. She describes him to be cool and someone with a face of a movie star, while she views Kaname as more of a prince. She usually clings to Tsubasa and finds comfort with him whenever she faces deep problems. Tsubasa is more like an older brother to Mikan, but he's also one of the reasons why Natsume gets jealous (as in episode 16 of the anime). Yū Tobita a.k.a. Iinchō, the class representative of the Elementary Class B, is one of Mikan's first friends in the Academy. According to the author, he fell in love with Mikan at first sight. He is always ready to help Mikan in almost anything.Higuchi,Tachibana, Gakuen Alice, Volume 3 Tokyopop, isbn=978-1-4278-0321-4, Chapter 13 Mikan also befriends the beautiful yet shy Nobara Ibaragi, who possesses the Alice of Ice and Snow. On their first meeting, Mikan feels lonely for Nobara because no one seems to like her. Nobara quickly grows attached to Mikan and often expresses her fondness for the young girl unconsciously. Sumire Shōda used to be on bad terms with Mikan mostly because Mikan was receiving a lot attention from Natsume and Ruka. Mikan teasingly calls her Permy due to her hair. Sumire became good friends with Mikan later on after the two of them followed a kidnapped Natsume, but still considers Mikan as a rival in all sorts of things. Shūichi Sakurano and Subaru Imai are very close to Mikan's mother, Yuka Azumi, and because of that they swore to protect Mikan at all cost. They took the teacher training program to become teachers to stay in the academy and to watch over Mikan. Sakurano, most especially, acts very kindly to her and has shown so many signs of fondness for her, while Subaru treats Mikan much better than other people. Mikan has a good bond with almost everyone. She loves all her friends equally, as a part of her innocent personality. Gallery File:Mikan.PNG|Mikan as seen in the Anime File:9.jpg|Younger Mikan Reception Animax had ran ads for their hottest babe lineup on Jan 1st 2006 with Mikan. In an official Japan Poll for the most popular manga 2005, Mikan was ranked in 16th place for the Best Female Character category.http://kr.blog.yahoo.com/co0394/812205.html She was nominated for the Saimoe 2005.http://lovely.kakiko.com/animemoe2005/ Mikan was also nominated and got qualified to Round one of the Sailoli contest 2008, beating Chihiro Ogino in Group D.http://battle.lolitron.org/ In 2005 Anime Grand Prix, Mikan was in 45th place in the Favorite Female Category. In all the contests, Mikan is the only Gakuen Alice character present. Trivia *Mikan's first name ("蜜柑"), means "mandarin oranges" in Japanese, which corresponds to her light orange Alice Stone color. Her name is also a pun on Yuka's name, because a part of Yuka can mean citrus. *In Higuchi's previous work M to N no Shozou and her current work Gakuen Alice both the male and female lead start with the same letter; ("M" Mitsuru and Mikan), ("N" Nastuhiko and Natsume). *Like her mother Mikan has managed to gain love triangle which is mainly Ruka and Natsume, but linchou is also said to admire her. *January 1st is not her true birthday, but the day Mikan's grandfather was given Mikan. Her true birthday is unknown. * In an interview with Tachibana Higuchi, the author hinted that Mikan is her favorite character in the story.http://www.tokyopop.com/AliceAcademy/tp_article/1230464.html References Category:Female Character Category:Character Category:Alice Category:Nullification Alice Category:Stealing Alice Category:Insertion Alice Category:Amplification Alice Category:Instant Teleportation Alice Category:Telepathy Alice